Deep Pocket Digital Footprints

By Christiana Cefalu

There are many ways to measure the super rich. PeekYou is a search engine that scores individuals by their online presence. The New York City-based firm recently ranked the ten richest people in the world, based on their “PeekScore,” a digital footprint metric ranging from 1 to 10 that’s derived from a compilation of 20 different factors like participation in social networks, number of friends and followers, prominence and frequency in the news, and amount of web content the individual creates and its readership.

Explaining the metric’s range, PeekYou CEO, Michael Hussey, said, “President Obama is a 10, while the average person is a 1.”

Hussey, when pressed, agreed the ranking results are incidental rather than intentional. While lesser known beings try to manipulate their Google rankings, “when you’re that rich, you don’t need to worry about social media presence.”

Bill Gates, who to some might seem a little passé and from the dying world of the PC, still tops the list with a PeekScore of 10. “Given his nearly incalculable global fame, and especially given his specific association with the very technology many use to access the Web in the first place, his dominance here in cyberspace is a natural,” PeekYou said in a statement.

More surprising is the relatively high rankings of EBX Group CEO, Eike Batista, or Spanish Inditex boss, Armancia Ortega. EBX Group is a Brazilian empire of infrastructure and natural resource companies while Inditex is in the business of fashion retailing.

Here, for what it’s worth, Penta passes on the top 10 wealthiest individuals as ranked by their digital clout:

About Penta

Written with Barron’s wit and often contrarian perspective, Penta provides the affluent with advice on how to navigate the world of wealth management, how to make savvy acquisitions ranging from vintage watches to second homes, and how to smartly manage family dynamics.

Richard C. Morais, Penta’s editor, was Forbes magazine’s longest serving foreign correspondent, has won multiple Business Journalist Of The Year Awards, and is the author of two novels: The Hundred-Foot Journey and Buddhaland, Brooklyn. Robert Milburn is Penta’s reporter, both online and for the quarterly magazine. He reviews everything from family office regulations to obscure jazz recordings.